The eye contour (area around the eyes) has a very important aesthetic role since it immediately reflects fatigue, humor and age.
The eye contour, owing to its structure and its high innervation, is an anatomical site that is particularly sensitive to environmental factors (UV rays, pollution, tobacco, etc.) and physiological factors (fatigue, stress, etc.).
In humans, the eyes blink a thousand times per day, and the epidermis which surrounds them is very thin and not very well irrigated—to allow significant mobility, the skin around the eyes is extremely thin (on the order of 0.33 to 0.36 mm, i.e., 3 to 5 times thinner than the rest of the skin of the face). Thus, it is easily dehydrated and vulnerable to external aggressions, meaning that such skin requires particular care.
The skin around the eyes can also reflect one's lifestyle to a certain extent: heat, stress, tobacco, UV rays, and facial expressions can lead to multiple variations of this skin throughout the day which involve vascularization, hydration and turgescence of skin tissues and can help explain the principal changes observed: swelling, dark circles, puffiness, etc.
Moreover, the skin of the eye contour is very reactive due to its richness in inflammatory cells (mast cells), meaning that such skin can be sensitive or intolerant leading, perhaps, to allergic reactions.
Furthermore, the skin of the eye contour can be particularly sensitive to solar radiation. Excessive exposure without protection can lead to redness, sensitivity, or even swelling via microcirculation disorders.
Dark circles and swelling of the eye contour can have a vascular or hereditary origin. Surface vascularization is barely visible in such skin, since the capillaries have a low flow rate, but the vessels of the subcutaneous layers constitute a large vascular reserve which may vary throughout the day. Dark circles generally correspond to a transitory or permanent vascular congestion which results in hyperpigmentation of the skin, and are typically accentuated by at least some of the factors discussed above.
The formation of dark circles often occurs as a result of slowing blood microcirculation, especially at night, which leads to an accumulation of blood pigments in the conjunctive tissue. Furthermore, the lymphatic system, also slowed during the night, leads to swelling of this skin. Such swelling, associated with age-related slackening of the tissues, can help cause the formation of bags.
Defects around eyes such as dark circles and swelling have always been considered to be unattractive, and it has always been a goal to mask them or even eliminate them.
There remains a need for compositions which can reduce and/or minimize the appearance of defects of the contour of the eyes, in particular bags, dark circles and/or puffiness, and for effective methods of reducing and/or minimizing the appearance of such defects in skin around eyes.